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Our Power Plants

Natural Gas

First Gen has four natural gas-fired power plants: the 1000-MW Santa Rita, the 500-MW San Lorenzo, as well as the newly constructed 97-MW Avion peaking and 414-MW San Gabriel mid-merit power plants. Both Avion and San Gabriel capitalize on the growing demand for peaking and mid-merit power in the Luzon grid and have been in commercial operations since September and November 2016, respectively. Since their commercial operations, the plants have added 511 MW to First Gen’s portfolio of power assets.

Santa Rita Combined-Cycle Natural Gas-Fired Power Plant

Owned and operated by the Company’s wholly-owned First Gas Power Corporation (FGPC), the Santa Rita plant is a 1,000-MW combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant that utilizes Siemens v84.3A gas turbines located in the First Gen Clean Energy Complex in Batangas City, 100 kilometers south of Manila, Philippines. It uses natural gas from the Malampaya gas field in offshore Northwest Palawan. The plant was developed, financed, and constructed by FGPC and was built by a consortium led by Siemens AG under a fixed-price, turnkey Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contract. Operations and Maintenance (O&M) of the plant is performed by Siemens Power Operations, Inc. (SPOI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Siemens AG. The plant commenced operations in August 2000 and initially ran on liquid fuel, and in October 2001 commenced natural gas operations when gas from the Malampaya field became available. The dual-firing plant uses condensate, distillate, and naphtha as back-up fuel supply in instances when gas is not available. Fuel supply is covered by a 22-year Gas Supply Purchase Agreement (GSPA) with the Malampaya consortium consisting of Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. (SPEX), Chevron Malampaya LLC, and Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) Exploration Corporation. The gas seller consortium extracts natural gas from the Malampaya field pursuant to the terms of North West Palawan Service Contract No. 38, which was concluded with the Philippine government in December 1990. Santa Rita sells its electric output to Meralco under a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with an 83 percent take-or-pay Minimum Energy Quantity (MEQ) arrangement.

FGPC, which was originally 60 percent-owned by First Gen, has since become a wholly-owned First Gen subsidiary following First Gen’s acquisition in May 2012 of the British Gas (BG) Group’s 40 percent interest in FGPC.

San Lorenzo Combined-Cycle Natural Gas-Fired Power Plant

Owned and operated by the Company’s wholly-owned FGP Corp. (FGP), the San Lorenzo plant is a 500-MW combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant that utilizes Siemens v84.3A gas turbines located west of, and adjacent to, the Santa Rita plant. It was developed, financed, and constructed by FGP, a wholly-owned subsidiary of First Gen, and similar to the Santa Rita plant, was built by Siemens AG under a fixed price, turnkey EPC Contract. O&M of the plant is likewise performed by SPOI. The plant commenced commercial operations in October 2002 using Malampaya natural gas. It uses condensate distillate and naphtha as back-up fuel supply when gas is not available. Similar to Santa Rita, fuel supply is covered by a 22-year Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement with the Malampaya consortium and San Lorenzo sells its electric output to Meralco under a 25-year PPA with an 83 percent take-or-pay MEQ arrangement.

Critical to the success of both the Santa Rita and the San Lorenzo projects was the construction of an onshore natural gas transmission pipeline that transports Malampaya gas to both Santa Rita and San Lorenzo from the natural gas facility of SPEX in Tabangao, Batangas City. FGP took on the responsibility of constructing this pipeline, the first of its kind in the Philippines.

FGP, which was originally 60 percent-owned by First Gen, has since become a wholly-owned First Gen subsidiary following First Gen’s acquisition in May 2012 of the BG Group’s 40 percent interest in FGP.

Avion Open-Cycle Natural Gas-Fired Power Plant

The 97-MW Avion open-cycle natural gas-fired power plant, which started commercial operations on September 26, 2016, was developed under First Gen’s wholly-owned Prime Meridian Powergen Corporation (PMPC). The plant is located in the First Gen Clean Energy Complex in Batangas City.

Avion uses two units of General Electric’s LM6000 PC Sprint aero-derivative gas turbines, making it the first power plant in the Philippines to run on aircraft engines for land-based power generation application. The Avion power plant has the capability to run on either natural gas or diesel and its turbines have the flexibility to ramp up quickly and to do unlimited daily starts and stops, making it the ideal merchant peaking plant to add in First Gen’s portfolio of assets.

The Avion plant consumes natural gas from the existing Malampaya field as fuel, and it will shift to re-gasified Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) when supply from the Malampaya field is no longer available, and when imported LNG becomes available in the Philippines. Electricity from Avion is sold entirely in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in order to take advantage of high clearing prices, particularly during peak periods. Additionally, if necessary and economically feasible, the plant can provide ancillary services to the grid.

San Gabriel Combined-Cycle Natural Gas-Fired Power Plant

First Gen’s wholly-owned First NatGas Power Corp. (FNPC) owns and operates the 414-MW San Gabriel Power Plant, which is the most efficient natural gas-fired plant in Southeast Asia. San Gabriel started commercial operations on November 7, 2016 and is located in the First Gen Clean Energy Complex in Batangas City.

San Gabriel utilizes Siemens’ SCC6-8000H combined-cycle gas turbine, which is designed to have a combined-cycle efficiency rating greater than 60 percent and offers operational flexibility. FNPC was constructed under a full turnkey EPC Contract with Siemens AG. The O&M of the plant is being performed by SPOI, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Siemens AG. Similar to Avion, FNPC uses natural gas from the existing Malampaya field as fuel for the San Gabriel plant, and will shift to re-gasified LNG when supply from the Malampaya field is no longer available, and when imported LNG becomes available in the Philippines. FNPC intends to offer up to 300 MW of San Gabriel’s capacity to pre-selected credit-worthy electric cooperatives and private distribution utilities, while the remaining capacity will be sold to the WESM and/or provide ancillary services to the grid.

Hydro

Pantabangan-Masiway Hydroelectric Power Plant

The 132-MW Pantabangan-Masiway hydroelectric power plant complex (PMHEP) located in Nueva Ecija is owned and operated by First Gen Hydro Power Corporation (FG Hydro). The complex has two components: the then 112-MW Pantabangan hydroelectric plant (PHEP) component that was commissioned in 1977 and the 12-MW Masiway hydroelectric plant portion that was commissioned in 1981. Both plants are part of a multipurpose hydro complex that supplies irrigation water for the vast rice fields of Nueva Ecija, approximately 180 kilometers northeast of Metro Manila.

At the time of the PMHEP’s transfer to First Gen, it had a total installed capacity of 112 MW. PHEP underwent a major rehabilitation that was completed at the end of 2010. After which, the total capacity of PHEP increased to 120 MW, which increased the total capacity of the PMHEP complex to 132 MW.

PMHEP draws water from the Pantabangan reservoir that can hold up to three billion cubic meters of water. Of this amount of water, 1,753 million cubic meters can be used for both irrigation and power production purposes. To maximize the hydraulic potential of water for power generation, PMHEP cascades the water resource from the Pantabangan reservoir initially through its two 60-MW units of Pantabangan upstream, and then through the smaller 12-MW Masiway plant downstream.

PMHEP’s privatization represented the first major generating asset of National Power Corporation (NPC) to be successfully transferred to the private sector. PMHEP’s generated output of energy is subject to and limited by the Irrigation Diversion Requirement (IDR) set by the National Irrigation Administration (NIA). Generally, the output energy of each plant is high during planting seasons, which occur during the months of December to March (dry planting season) and July to September (wet planting season). The volume of water released from the dam, which directly correlates with the amount of power generated by the hydroelectric plants, is much higher during the dry planting season due to the absence of rain. To date, FG Hydro sells its generated electricity to various customers under PSAs. Electricity generated by PMHEP in excess of its contracted levels is sold to the WESM. Furthermore, FG Hydro optimizes uncontracted capacity by providing ancillary services to the grid. FG Hydro has been able to generate additional revenues through its offering of contingency reserve, dispatchable reserve, reactive power support and black start service.

FG Hydro is owned 40 percent by First Gen and 60 percent by Energy Development Corporation (EDC), by virtue of a sale approved by the respective First Gen Board of Directors and EDC Board of Directors on October 15, 2008.

Agusan Mini-Hydroelectric Plant

Commissioned and constructed by NPC in 1957, the Agusan mini-hydro plant is located in Damilag, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon, 36 kilometers southeast of Cagayan de Oro City in Northern Mindanao. The run-of-river plant covers a land area of approximately 14 hectares and consists of two 800-kW turbine generators that use water from the Agusan River through a six-kilometer headrace and a 2.83-hectare forebay to generate electricity. The 1.6-MW Agusan sells all electricity output from its mini-hydro plant to the Cagayan Electric Power and Light Company, Inc., through a PSA that is effective until March 2025.

First Gen won the bidding for the 1.6-MW Agusan mini-hydro plant when it was auctioned by the Philippine government via the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Company (PSALM) in June 2004. It was officially turned over in March 2005. Eventually, the asset was transferred to a special purpose vehicle named FG Bukidnon Power Corporation (FGBPC or FG Bukidnon), a wholly-owned subsidiary of First Gen Renewables, Inc.

Geothermal

Energy Development Corporation (EDC), the world’s largest vertically-integrated geothermal company, is primarily engaged in the exploration, development, operation, and optimization of geothermal steamfields and in power generation. EDC is listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange with ticker symbol “EDC”. The company made its initial public offering in December 2006. Prior to November 2007, EDC was a government-owned and -controlled corporation, known as Philippine National Oil Company-Energy Development Corporation (PNOC-EDC). After First Gen’s acquisition of a controlling stake in the geothermal company, through its subsidiary, Red Vulcan Holdings Corporation, PNOC-EDC was renamed Energy Development Corporation (EDC). As of today, First Gen has an effective 50.6 percent economic interest and a 67.1 percent voting interest in EDC.

It owns 12 integrated geothermal power stations in Leyte, Bicol, Southern Negros, and North Cotabato with an installed capacity of 1,169 MW. Currently, EDC has 14 service contracts with the Philippine government for exploration and utilization of geothermal energy, three of which are geothermal operating contracts (GOCs). The 11 service contracts are in the form of Geothermal Renewable Energy Service Contract (GRESCs), four of which are operating commercially.

EDC’s 12 integrated geothermal power stations consist of the following:

Wind

EDC wholly owns EDC Burgos Wind Power Corporation (EBWPC), the owner and operator of the 150-MW Burgos Wind Project in Burgos, Ilocos Norte. Considered the Philippines’s largest wind power project, occupying a 600-hectare site covering three barangays; namely Saoit, Poblacion, and Nagsurot, in Burgos, Ilocos Norte. The project consists of 50 large scale Vestas V90 3-MW wind turbines. It also includes a 115-kV transmission line connecting the wind farm from Burgos substation to the Laoag substation as well as the expansion of the switchyard/substations. The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) issued a Certificate of Compliance (CoC) for the plant’s total capacity of 150-MW, which entitles it to the Feed-In-Tariff (FiT) rate of Php8.53/kWh for a period of 20 years from November 11, 2014 to November 10, 2034.

Solar

EDC opportunistically used the spare parcels of land at the Burgos site to install and operate the 4.16-MW Burgos Solar Phase 1 and the 2.66-MW Burgos Solar Project Phase 2, bringing EDC’s total solar capacity to 6.82 MW. The solar plants are likewise located in Burgos, Ilocos Norte.

EDC successfully commissioned its 4.16-MW Burgos Solar Project on March 5, 2015. The project received its CoC on April 6, 2015, entitling it to a FiT rate of Php9.68/kwh for a period of 20 years from March 5, 2015 to March 4, 2035.

On January 19, 2016, the 2.66-MW Burgos Solar Project Phase 2 was completed bringing EDC’s total solar capacity to 6.82 MW. The project received its CoC on March 1, 2016, entitling it to a FiT rate of Php8.69/kWh from January 19, 2016 to January 18, 2036.

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